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[IronWing]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: ironwing
Depends on the field. If you're a marketing or business major where you're a commodity that might be true. For specialized technical fields where there might be a particular expertise desired throwing in the kitchen sink can help. My resume is three pages plus a five page professional history I can include if the job announcement implies they want to know everything I've ever done.

Understood. Your resume will go directly, do not pass go, "can't even write a freakin' resume and we want to hire him!!!????", go directly to trashcan.

If you are in education then fine.....otherwise that resume will go directly into the trash with a "what a pretntious arse, wouldn't want to work with him" comment.

If your beautifully crafted, one page, printed on nice faux-parchment resume shows up and doesn't contain the info I need to assess your quals then I can either call you to obtain more info or go on to the next applicant. Guess which is easier? The purpose of the resume is not to impress the world with your formatting skills, it is to convey information. If sufficient info is not forthcoming, the reviewer will assume that is because there is no info to convey.

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: inspire

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
do not waste your money...just have someone from HR critic it

I don't know anybody in HR

Yes you do - me!

My opinion is that it's not worth having your resume professionally written unless you are REALLY bad at getting your skills and experience across on paper. Resumes are only a way to identify if you're worth phone screening, just basic credentials. They do not make or break careers. A decent recruiter looks for keywords, matching experiences, level and career path when they scan a resume, nothing more.

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: ironwing
Question for OP: Can you write?

If you know your writing skills really suck then go ahead and pay someone. However, if this is true then a better use of the money might be a writing tutor. Most technical/scientific careers involve lots of writing and if you can't do it, you won't go far.

If you know your writing skills are good, then write your own resume. Don't worry about keeping it to a single page. At the MS level in a technical/scientific field, employers will want to know more about your classes/experiences/skills rather than less. Don't wax poetic but don't leave out good stuff either. You're not a marketing major, just tell them what you've done and what you know,

I'll say again. Most people don't know how to write a resume/CV.

More than one page goes into the "windbag", more than two pages goes immediately into the trashcan.

Not entirely true. That's a diehard view, old style HR, and it's more often found in industries like finance. Your average resume for somebody with 2-10 years of experience is 2 pages. Less if you're entry level, possibly more (with addendums) if you are exec level with 10+ years of experience. At that level, you're usually not dealing with something like Monster.com though.

 

[habib89]

i've seen lots of resumes, some were good, some were bad, but it's really the content that i focused on... just put the skills that they want on your resume, make it look somewhat organized, and you're set.. make sure to highlight skills that they want.. bullet form is always appreciated

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: HotChic
Not entirely true. That's a diehard view, old style HR, and it's more often found in industries like finance. Your average resume for somebody with 2-10 years of experience is 2 pages. Less if you're entry level, possibly more (with addendums) if you are exec level with 10+ years of experience. At that level, you're usually not dealing with something like Monster.com though.

Sure, but at the exec level your resume doesn't even pass or is ever seen by HR. You guys have no say at all. None.

Given the OPs circumstances and the pretentious educational background ironwing is obviously involved with let's just stick to the basics.

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: ironwing
Depends on the field. If you're a marketing or business major where you're a commodity that might be true. For specialized technical fields where there might be a particular expertise desired throwing in the kitchen sink can help. My resume is three pages plus a five page professional history I can include if the job announcement implies they want to know everything I've ever done.

Understood. Your resume will go directly, do not pass go, "can't even write a freakin' resume and we want to hire him!!!????", go directly to trashcan.

If you are in education then fine.....otherwise that resume will go directly into the trash with a "what a pretntious arse, wouldn't want to work with him" comment.

This is true... Remember that the folks that are hiring you are likely understaffed and overworked. If they weren't, they wouldn't be looking for more help! When you're already busy, nobody wants to read a bunch of long resumes that look like epic novels.

When I look at resumes, I first scan for key words of the skills that I'm looking for. If I find them, THEN I'll read your resume more closely. That's why a keep my resume short and make sure to list all of the skills that I know.

 

[IronWing]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: HotChic
Not entirely true. That's a diehard view, old style HR, and it's more often found in industries like finance. Your average resume for somebody with 2-10 years of experience is 2 pages. Less if you're entry level, possibly more (with addendums) if you are exec level with 10+ years of experience. At that level, you're usually not dealing with something like Monster.com though.

Sure, but at the exec level your resume doesn't even pass or is ever seen by HR. You guys have no say at all. None.

Given the OPs circumstances and the pretentious educational background ironwing is obviously involved with let's just stick to the basics.

Given that he's posting to monster.com it makes even more sense to give more info. The reason is that employers will be performing word searchs to screen job seekers.

By the way, I'm not in academia, but do have a job, and I do review technical resumes on occasion. I'm basing my advice on what I want to see on a resume - sufficient information, well organized, and all in one place. If it takes more ink to do that, fine. In specialized fields you don't get hundreds of resumes to screen so it doesn't matter if the resumes run long.

 

[Nightfall]

In my opinion, you get what you pay for.

I have done hiring in IT for a long time, and I can say the resume's that catch my eye are the ones that are professionally done and look very nice. I see a lot of custom resumes that use a template in Word that look like crap.

Here is a good example of why it is good to get a resume professionally done...

I have a strong educational background in computers, and over 10 years of experience. When I found myself out of a job last year, I started sending out resumes. MI had a really bad unemployment at the time, so I was glad I had savings to fall back on. I thought I would be out of work a while. As it turns out, I was only out of work for 5 weeks, and I got a 2 month contract job. Then I was out of work 3 weeks and I got the job I have now. I had interviews almost every day I was out of work.

The point is that my resume caught the eye of interviewers. That is what a resume is supposed to do. I had mine professionally done and it got results. How do I know? Every company I interviewed with was impressed by it and told me.

Do I think it is worth it? Absolutely! I paid $200 to have mine done and it was money well spent. Of course I think a resume is only as good as the experience and education you put on it. It also depends on the field as well and what industry you are aiming for.

My advice, spend the money and get it done.

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: HotChic
Not entirely true. That's a diehard view, old style HR, and it's more often found in industries like finance. Your average resume for somebody with 2-10 years of experience is 2 pages. Less if you're entry level, possibly more (with addendums) if you are exec level with 10+ years of experience. At that level, you're usually not dealing with something like Monster.com though.

Sure, but at the exec level your resume doesn't even pass or is ever seen by HR. You guys have no say at all. None.

You think that CEOs sit around and deal with the headhunting firms and sort through a few hundred resumes, and then schedule the interview loops? On a level like that you may be working with the director of recruiting, but you're still working with recruiting.